SSI SCHAEFER deploys AGV fleet and more for Sun Garden distribution center
Sun Garden, headquartered in Neuenkirchen, Germany, is one of Europe’s market-leading manufacturers of mattresses and cushions. For a new distribution center at its production site in Malanów, Poland, the enterprise needed a one-stop intralogistics solution – and turned to SSI Schaefer for the answer. As an integral part of the solution, a fleet of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) will soon enable the flexible, obstacle-free transfer of goods.
SSI Schaefer was tasked with creating and simulating an effective material flow concept and constructing a five-aisle automated high-bay warehouse. The project also includes the establishment of a semi-automated picking system served by AGVs in line with SSI Schaefer’s proven 2Pick® concept. WAMAS® logistics software will monitor and manage all warehousing and material flow processes.
Sun Garden is using the approximately 160,000 m2 location in Malanów to manufacture mattresses, cushions and box-spring beds. Around 2,800 employees achieve a production output of some 22,000 metric tons per year – equivalent to more than 15,000 mattresses per day, in all common sizes and comfort categories, along with other products. Large roll containers, 2,400 by 2,400 mm in size and 500 kg in gross weight, are the main method of storing and transferring these often bulky products. Karl-Heinz Wiesch, Product Leader at Sun Garden, explains: “Storing, conveying and picking these goods is not really feasible with conventional intralogistics systems. SSI Schaefer’s custom, end-to-end solution was precisely tailored to our needs, and is exceptionally efficient.”
The high-bay warehouse’s 7,600 locations and the Exyz storage and retrieval machines’ load-handling devices, as well as the fleet of 30 AGVs, which convey the various load carriers to picking stations, are modified for use with large roll containers. Guided by a fleet controller, the AGVs drive through picking aisles in a defined pattern. This enables more ergonomic picking with shorter travel distances for human operators. After an order has been completed, in a fully automated process the roll containers and other carriers are removed from the shipping department and replaced. As Ewald Kösters, Managing Partner of Sun Garden, observes: “The AGV fleet provides us with flexible, obstacle-free, and scalable automation of in-house material flows. SSI Schaefer’s end-to-end intralogistics solution puts us in an ideal position for further growth.”